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Aside from Bukgung Dam-deok’s comfort, the A-Bi-Gyu-Hwan were enduring the most painful days of their lives.
“Ai Ja!”
“Yes!”
“I forgot to wash my feet before bed last night — go fetch some warm water and wash them for me.”
“……”
Ai Ja bit his lower lip and fetched water to wash Yeon Mujin’s feet.
“Hey, wash them thoroughly, you brat. If you don’t listen properly, I’ll make you crawl on all fours.”
…crack!
“I’ll scrub them until the soles wear out.”
“Yes, yes. That’s better.”
Yeon Mujin propped his feet on a chair and called the next servant’s name.
“Hey, Bi Mokja!”
“……Yes?”
“You had a bad dream last night, so come here and massage my shoulders.”
“……”
Bi Mokja stepped forward without hesitation and began massaging Yeon Mujin’s shoulders.
“Ah, that’s relieving. There’s a knot — press harder and knead it.”
“……Yes.”
Yeon Mujin’s neck lay exposed and unprotected in Bi Mokja’s view.
‘Grab this bastard’s neck and snap it all at once!’
With Bi Mokja’s monstrous strength, if he so chose he could tear a person apart while still alive.
Such humiliation was hard for him to endure.
Yeon Mujin cracked his neck audibly and spoke to Bi Mokja behind him.
“Ah, getting weaker by the minute. What use is a man who is this frail? If you’re short, shall I let you stand on me to reach?”
“……It’s fine.”
“If you don’t massage properly, I’ll train you to bark every time you meet someone on the road — so be careful.”
That wasn’t all. Yeon Mujin called for the last servant.
“You, Gyu Guja!”
“Yes.”
“You go to the market and buy some snacks for the journey. Get candied ginger and sweet cakes. Candied ginger is the hall master’s favorite, so buy plenty.”
Yeon Mujin said that and rummaged his clothing to hand over money.
What fell into Gyu Guja’s hand were three copper coins.
“Buy the snacks with that and bring back one silver coin as change.”
“You son of a…”
“What did you just say?”
“Don’t you need fruit that you eat by spitting out the seeds?”
Yeon Mujin tapped Gyu Guja’s cheek with his finger and said:
“You can be the one to eat the seed-spitting fruit.”
As Gyu Guja left the inn, Yeon Mujin called after him.
“We’ll depart soon, so be back within an hour.”
After Gyu Guja lost the palm-wrestling match, the A-Bi-Gyu-Hwan took turns challenging Yeon Mujin with various wagers to avenge the loss.
The contests varied: arm-wrestling, naming poisonous herbs, shell games, and so on…
But none of them could defeat Yeon Mujin.
If Ai Ja lost, Bi Mokja would jump in; if Bi Mokja lost, Gyu Guja would take over…
And so the result: the three A-Bi-Gyu-Hwan brothers had all become Yeon Mujin’s servants.
“How did we, the feared A-Bi-Gyu-Hwan, come to this?”
“Brother, you have no idea how much I restrained myself from breaking that bastard’s neck earlier.”
“My hands still stink…”
Hwan Bija offered his younger brothers a perfunctory consolation.
“Poor things. Suffer a little longer.”
At that, the three brothers turned their sharp gazes straight at Hwan Bija.
“W-what, why is that?”
“Brother, weren’t you just standing back with your hands behind your back?”
“Are you pretending not to notice your brothers’ miserable toil?”
“You met my eyes earlier and then looked away, didn’t you?”
The younger brothers were full of grievances against their eldest, Hwan Bija.
“Why didn’t you place any bets, brother, and just stand idle?”
“Were you afraid you’d lose to that fellow?”
“Why did you avoid my gaze earlier?”
A rift was forming among the once tightly bonded A-Bi-Gyu-Hwan brothers.
“Calm down. If even I get shown up by that External Protection Troops leader, what will become of our Ghost Valley Manor’s reputation?”
“Couldn’t you have flattened that bastard’s nose, brother?”
“What, no confidence? Afraid the great elder will lose?”
“Thanks to that, we’re playing servants — something not written in our fates.”
‘That’s because you lost the bets, isn’t it?’
Hwan Bija swallowed that thought and said aloud:
The mood was so tense that one wrong word would surely earn him a beating.
“Don’t worry, lads. We’ll reach Hundred Ghost Mountain soon.”
While the A-Bi-Gyu-Hwan were engrossed in wagering with Yeon Mujin, they had walked on steadily and were now on the verge of Guiyu City.
“No matter how rough the External Protection Troops leader is, even he will find it hard to stay calm on Hundred Ghost Mountain.”
The brothers all nodded at Hwan Bija’s words.
What kind of place was Hundred Ghost Mountain? Wasn’t it the strange, perilous peak that drove even sane people mad?
“You just enjoy watching him faint with fright on Hundred Ghost Mountain. I have a way to put him through hell, so don’t worry.”
“As expected of you, brother.”
“Let’s see if he can act cocky even on Hundred Ghost Mountain. You thunder-bare fool!”
“Heh heh heh, he’ll beg us to save him while clinging to our trousers.”
“T-this is Hundred Ghost Mountain.”
Bukgung Dam-deok said at the mountain’s entrance.
Bukgung Yoon and the External Protection Troops members slowly looked up to take in the whole of Hundred Ghost Mountain.
“It just looks like an ordinary mountain.”
“There’s nothing particularly special about it.”
“The only odd thing is that there are no signs of people ever passing through.”
The External Protection Troops members each offered a comment.
“They make a fuss about how terrifying it is, but it’s not that much.”
Yang Gwan-wol snorted and said.
“Yang deputy captain, don’t be complacent just because of Hundred Ghost Mountain’s outward appearance.”
Ha Do-yeop, who stood beside him, offered the warning.
“Hundred Ghost Mountain takes its name from the Hundred Ghost Taoist who settled here long ago. The Hundred Ghost Taoist was skilled with poisons and herbs, possessed great strength, and was said to command snakes and ride on birds — a strange master indeed.”
“Command snakes and ride birds? Isn’t that just folklore?”
Ha Do-yeop shrugged his shoulders.
“The Hundred Ghost Taoist was notorious for eccentricities and sorcery. People from Guiyu grow up hearing stories about him — they’d warn children that if they misbehave, the Hundred Ghost Taoist of Hundred Ghost Mountain will come and take them.”
“Like old Mantae of Guiyu Mountain, that sort of fellow.”
“But it’s likely not just a tale. The Hundred Ghost Taoist is said to have cultured all kinds of spiritual creatures and herbs here on Hundred Ghost Mountain. Especially, he treasured a certain carp. Martial folk from outside Guiyu coveted his treasures and invaded Hundred Ghost Mountain several times…”
“They invaded?”
“Hundred Ghost Mountain has never once been conquered by the martial arts world.”
“Uh…”
“Since then, wild rumors sprouted up about Hundred Ghost Mountain: that a fox spirit a hundred years old lived there, that a valley where ghosts gathered existed, that the Hundred Ghost Taoist still hid somewhere on the mountain…”
“A fox spirit and ghosts, ha ha ha. What a jokester.”
A terrified Yang Gwanwol forced an awkward laugh.
“It means Hundred Ghost Mountain is that dangerous. Don’t take Ha Do-yeop’s words lightly.”
Yeon Mujin interjected.
“By the way, Ha Do-yeop, you know more about Hundred Ghost Mountain than I thought.”
“As I said, my hometown is Guiyu.”
“Not every Guiyu native knows Hundred Ghost Mountain well. Come to think of it, you said you once visited the mountain’s entrance before, didn’t you?”
He had said that when personnel were being chosen to go to Guiyu.
“Yes.”
“If you know Hundred Ghost Mountain so well, why did you set foot on it?”
Ha Do-yeop hesitated a moment, then answered plainly.
“My parents were herb gatherers.”
“Ah.”
Yeon Mujin gave a short sigh.
“I asked needlessly. Sorry.”
“It’s fine. It was long ago.”
Only Yang Gwan-wol, who didn’t understand, gawked and rolled his eyes.
“What do you mean by that? Why be sorry for being herb gatherers?”
“Gwan-wol, if you have no tact, at least keep your mouth shut.”
Yu Segwang poked Yang Gwan-wol’s ribs and whispered an explanation.
“Senior Ha’s parents apparently entered Hundred Ghost Mountain to gather spirit herbs and went missing.”
“Ah.”
Yang Gwan-wol also let out a similar sigh to Yeon Mujin’s.
“So you volunteered to come to Hundred Ghost Mountain.”
Ha Do-yeop nodded.
“If they’re dead, I wanted at least to find their bodies. It’s been over ten years, but I still had hopes…”
Yeon Mujin said to Ha Do-yeop:
“Don’t get distracted by irrelevant things and focus on your duty.”
Yang Gwan-wol beside him bristled at Yeon Mujin’s curt words.
“No, Captain. Did you have to say it that way?”
“Once your eyes go to the past, you tend to forget the tasks at hand. Your duty is to protect the Manor Lord, not to hunt for the deceased.”
“Still, did you have to put it like that…”
Yeon Mujin turned coldly and returned to Bukgung Yoon’s side.
Yang Gwan-wol clicked his tongue and disparaged Yeon Mujin.
“Anyway, the captain sometimes says things that make you lose all sympathy. Damn it, go get eaten by a ghost on Hundred Ghost Mountain.”
Ha Do-yeop stopped him and said:
“No, the captain’s right. If those two had suffered misfortune on Hundred Ghost Mountain, it’s likely their bodies couldn’t be found. That’s why the master spoke so firmly.”
Had Yeon Mujin tried to console Ha Do-yeop further, it would have been even more burdensome.
If it could have been easily found, Ha Do-yeop from over a decade ago would already have found them.
He bowed toward Yeon Mujin’s departing back.
“Thank you for your concern, master.”
Ha Do-yeop looked up and turned to Yang Gwan-wol.
“And you — watch your tongue.”
“What, after backing you up, you talk like that?”
“No, it’s not that. You shouldn’t say things like ‘being taken by ghosts.’ Especially not here on Hundred Ghost Mountain.”
Ha Do-yeop said as he gazed at the mountain’s entrance.
“Here, ghosts might literally be listening.”
“……”
Whooosh!
A gentle breeze blew just then, sending a chill down Yang Gwan-wol’s nape.
“Don’t say things like that!”
“T-the Hundred Ghost Manor is deep within Hundred Ghost Mountain. H-Hwan Bija will guide the way to the lodge from here.”
“We don’t have time; we’ll take the quickest route to the lodge. Just follow us closely and there won’t be a problem.”
Bukgung Yoon listened to Hwan Bija’s explanation and nodded.
“I’ll trust you.”
The straight route across Hundred Ghost Mountain required passing through a gorge called the Ghost Song Gorge.
As its name suggests, Ghost Song Gorge is a place where eerie wails seem to tear from both sides of the ravine.
The gorge stretches for a hundred meters, and the path is narrow and unstable — too dangerous to recklessly employ light footwork skill to sprint across.
Hwan Bija planned to play a trick on Yeon Mujin right here.
‘No matter how powerful one’s martial arts, everyone wets their pants and begs for mercy when crossing Ghost Song Gorge.’
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